Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Bluegill spawning beds in pond with water shield

My 1 acre pond is fairly well encircled with water shield (like lilly pads), with dense undergrowth to the bottom. In other words, no visible sand anywhere in the shallows.

Will the bluegill still be able to find beds to spawn in?

Jon

Jon, just my experience , no letters after my name , no expert here. Last year my upper ponds spawning area was absolutely socked in with a pond weed so tight ,I could hardly push my way through. But, get up on high ground and look down into the water and you could see trails cut through the Pond weed everywhere , interconnecting spawning circles every few feet. Love and/or Libido will always find a way. Sunfish are very persistent when spawning is concerned. I believe the experts will agree on their persistence in home making.

Thanks for the reply. Makes sense.

I've had similar concerns in my pond. I've removed a lot of the watershield with imazapyr herbicide and created a new spawning area near my dock with 5 wading pools full of pea gravel last year.

This year the BG started using the new spawning area in earnest - spawning in the wading pools and the red ears are spawning between the pools and shoreline. Seems like the BG abandoned a spawning area on the other side of the pond I noticed in previosu years.

I'm hoping the new spawning area it will increase BG recruitment.

Great job!

I am not sure I have read before that the RES will indirectly utilize BG spawning structure to make their own nests. Good observation, that I hope creates good results for the RES.

This was the first year I observed Red Ears spawning - I've tried stocking fingerlings a couple times and the last batch seems to have had some survive and are now about 6-7" long.